June 24 2011

11:02 AM

Wagner had finished 16 holes of his first round at the Travelers
Championship when the downpour came late Thursday morning. Like
everyone else, he waited for the next seven hours before the
decision finally was made to suspend play until Friday.

The tee shot at the 17th hole is a daunting one under the best
of circumstances. But at 7 a.m. – and the first strike of the
day -- it can be even more nerve-rattling. There's water down the
entire right side of the fairway and a challenging bunker in the
fairway to the left.

Turns out Johnson, who was playing with the overnight leader,
Michael Bradley, didn't need to be worried. He ended up making a
birdie at the 17th and saving par at No. 18 on the way to a 65 that
left him one shot behind Ryan Moore and Andres Romero.

"I was real happy to get that 17th tee shot out of the way,"
Wagner said. "It's just a tough hole. Easy if you put it in the
fairway, but then I got to thinking about it last night, and I
thought, oh, man, I could chunk it in the water and make double,
but luckily I put that out of my head, hit it within about five
feet and made it and had a nice up-and-down on 18."

Wagner, who won his second PGA TOUR event earlier this year at
the Mayakoba Golf Classic at Riviera Maya-Cancun, said his putting
was the catalyst in his solid start. The 65 was his lowest opening
round of the season by four strokes and tied for his best of the
season.

"Everything was pretty good," said Wagner, who needed just 25
putts over his first 18 holes. "I putted really well. I've never
been so committed to my stroke, and I kept my head down. Didn't see
any putts really go in. I was trying to listen for them and just
really putted great. Gave myself a lot of opportunities on the back
nine for birdies and capitalized on most of them."

Wagner was hoping he'd get some more golf in on Friday afternoon
with tee times for those in Thursday morning’s wave scheduled
from 5:30-7:30 p.m. ET. At least, though, he can go back to his RV
and wait instead of hanging around the clubhouse. A nap and some TV
are on his agenda.

"The course was so perfect on Tuesday, and it's definitely soft,
but it's still in great shape and the fairways are real good,"
Wagner said. "I think the maintenance staff has done a good job of
getting it ready with all that rain yesterday. Scores should be low
today. If the weather stays good, scores should be low, so I don't
think 5-under is going to hang in there for long."